July 29, 2019

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India’s tiger population rises to 3,000 despite cities expanding

India’s tiger population has grown to nearly 3,000 and has been described by the country’s prime minister as a “historic achievement”.

India estimates its tiger population every few years and the number for 2018 was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

The tiger population was 2,226 in 2014 and just 1,400 about 15 years ago.

Mr Modi said the number of protected areas for tigers rose from 692 in 2014 to 860 last year while the number of community reserves went from 43 to 100 over the same period.

“With around 3,000 tigers, India has emerged as of one of the biggest and safest habitats for them in the world,” he said.

Belinda Wright, founder of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, based in New Delhi, said India “still has a long way to go to secure a long-term future for wild tigers”.

But she also said India should, nevertheless, be pleased with the results of what was the largest and most thorough estimation of the tiger population.

(SKY News)

‘Definitely weird’: man bites snake

An Indian man who was bitten by a snake got his revenge on the reptile by biting it back and killing it, the man’s father said on Monday.

The man, Raj Kumar, was relaxing at home, enjoying a drink on Sunday, when a snake slithered into his house in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, and bit him, said his father.

“A snake bit him. So, in turn, he bit it and chewed it into pieces,” said the father, Babu Ram.

The man’s family took him to hospital where media said his condition was critical. The snake that bit him was reported to have been a rat snake, which experts regard as usually not venomous.

“This is definitely weird,” said Raj Kumar’s doctor, N.P. Singh.

“I’ve seen people coming in with snakebites, but never somebody who bit a snake and then brought it with him in a bag.”

(Reuters)

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  • An eight-year-old boy is killed and his mother injured after being pushed by a man into the path of an oncoming train at Frankfurt‘s main station, in HesseGermany. The attacker, a 40-year-old immigrant Eritrean man, also attempted to knock a third person onto the tracks. The suspect and the victims did not appear to have known one another. (Sky News)
  • 2019 Altamira prison riot
    • At least 57 people are killed, including sixteen who were beheaded, during prison riots in ParáBrazil, which saw rival gangs battle for five hours. (BBC)

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July 30, 2019

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Chinese vlogger who used filter to look younger caught in live-stream glitch

Fans of a popular Chinese video blogger who called herself “Your Highness Qiao Biluo” have been left stunned after a technical glitch during one of her live-streams revealed her to be a middle-aged woman and not the young glamorous girl they thought her to be.

The revelation has led to discussions about standards of beauty across the country’s social media platforms.

The blogger, who initially boasted a follower count of more than 100,000 on Douyu, is believed to have used a filter on her face during her appearances, and had been renowned for her “sweet and healing voice”.

China’s Global Times said she had been “worshipped” as a “cute goddess” by some members of her loyal audience with some fans even giving her more than 100,000 yuan ($14,533, £11,950).

However, live-streaming platform Lychee News says the incident happened on 25 July, during a joint live-stream with another user, Qingzi on the Douyu platform.

The Global Times reports that all was as normal and that her fans urged her to show her face and remove her filter but she refused, instead apparently saying: “I can’t show my face until I receive gifts worth 100,000 yuan ($11,950). After all, I’m a good-looking host.”

Followers began to send her donations with the largest reported to be 40,000 yuan ($5,813, £4,780) during the session.

However, at some point, it seems the filter being used by the vlogger stopped working and her real face became visible to her viewers.

She is reported to have noticed only when people who had signed up to her VIP access room started exiting en masse.

Many of her original followers – especially men – are said to have stopped following her and withdrawn their transactions after seeing her true identity.

Your Highness Qiao Biluo without a filter and with a filter
Your Highness Qiao Biluo’s real appearance (left) and her filtered face (right) on Douyu

(BBC)

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  • At least 18 people, including thirteen civilians and five crew members, are killed and 12 others injured after a small military plane crashes into a residential area near the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi(BBC)

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July 31, 2019

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YouTube ‘King of Random’ dies in paragliding accident

YouTuber Grant Thompson, star of the “King of Random” channel, has died in a paragliding accident.

The 38 year old, whose channel had 11 million subscribers with billions of views, failed to return from a trip in Utah on Monday.

Thompson had a GPS device which helped locate his body the next day.

His YouTube channel was known for its creative – and sometimes dangerous – experiments such as “What does Liquid Nitrogen do to Your Face?”

Thompson’s death was officially announced on his Instagram page, with calls for his fans to “do a random act of love or kindness today in honour of The King of Random”.

In an interview with MediaKix in 2017, Thompson explained how he was bullied at school but eventually became a pilot. After flying planes for more than a decade, he went into real estate, became “semi-retired” and started his YouTube channel.

“I started making videos on YouTube showing people what I was tinkering with and what I was coming up with,” he said at the time.

(BBC)

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August 1, 2019

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Milky Way galaxy is warped and twisted, not flat

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is “warped and twisted” and not flat as previously thought, new research shows.

Analysis of the brightest stars in the galaxy shows that they do not lie on a flat plane as shown in academic texts and popular science books.

Astronomers from Warsaw University speculate that it might have been bent out of shape by past interactions with nearby galaxies.

The new three dimensional map has been published in the journal Science.

The popular picture of the Milky Way as a flat disc is based on the observation of 2.5 million stars out of a possible 2.5 billion. The artists’ impressions are therefore rough approximations of the truer shape of our galaxy, according to Dr Dorota Skowron of Warsaw University.

“The internal structure and history of the Milky Way is still far from being understood, in part because it is extremely difficult to measure distances to stars at the outer regions of our galaxy,” she said.

The Milky Way
OGLE/WARSAW UNIVERSITY

(BBC)

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  • The town of Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire, England, is evacuated after heavy rain and flooding causes structural damage to the nearby dam at the Toddbrook Reservoir amid fears the dam could collapse. A severe flood warning has been issued for communities situated along the River Goyt(BBC)

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August 2, 2019

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Lionel Messi Suspended 3 Months and Fined $50,000 for CONMEBOL Criticism

The Argentine star Lionel Messi was barred on Friday from playing for his national team for three months and was fined $50,000 by CONMEBOL, the South American soccer governing body, after he heavily criticized the organization during the Copa América.

Messi, 32, accused CONMEBOL of corruption after he was sent off against Chile in the third-place playoff match during the tournament in Brazil, which ended last month.

Messi was angered by two incidents during the Copa.

Argentina was denied two penalty claims in its 2-0 semifinal loss to the hosts, after which Messi claimed Brazil was “managing a lot in CONMEBOL these days.” And when he was harshly dismissed in the next game, which Argentina won, 2-1, he could not contain his anger.

“Corruption and the referees are preventing people from enjoying the football, and they’re ruining it a bit,” Messi said.

He was given his marching orders after a first-half scuffle with Chile’s captain, Gary Medel, although television images suggested he had done little wrong.

In a statement on its website, CONMEBOL did not specify why Messi was being punished but said the punishment was related to articles 7.1 and 7.2 of the organization’s disciplinary regulations.

(NY Times)

Lionel Messi at 2018 World Cup
Lionel Messi at 2018 World Cup [Кирилл Венедиктов]

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August 3, 2019

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El Paso Shooting: Massacre at a Crowded Walmart in Texas Leaves 20 Dead

A 21-year-old gunman armed with a powerful rifle turned a crowded Walmart store in this majority-Hispanic border city into a scene of chaos and bloodshed on Saturday, stalking shoppers in the aisles in an attack that left at least 20 people dead and 26 others wounded, the authorities said.

For several minutes late on Saturday morning, the packed Walmart near the Cielo Vista Mall on the city’s East Side filled with gun smoke and the echo of gunfire. Workers and customers, some bloodied, fled out the doors. Others huddled in the aisles or on the ground.

“Texas grieves for the people of El Paso today,” the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, told reporters. “On a day that would have been a normal day for someone to leisurely go shopping, turned into one of the most deadly days in the history of Texas.”

The authorities identified the gunman as Patrick Crusius, from a Dallas suburb. He was taken into custody after he surrendered to the police outside the Walmart. The authorities said they were investigating a manifesto Mr. Crusius, who is white, may have posted before the shooting, which described an attack in response to “the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

(NY Times)

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August 14, 2019

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The 12,000-calorie burger: why one pub is offering a meat feast – and cash towards your gravestone

‘It’s just 10 burgers piled up on top of each other between mounds of cheese and 25 rashers of bacon.’ The Big Ben Number 10. Photograph: Craig Harker/SWNS.COM

Name: The Big Ben Number 10.

Price: £28.95.

Appearance: 12,000 calories of possible death.

Jesus Christ, what is that thing? Oh, you mean that towering stack of charred meat, cheese, bacon and grease? That’s the Big Ben Number 10. Fancy a bite?

No! Oh, come on, try some. I know it looks like a still from a documentary about a zoo that burned down, but what have you got to lose?

I don’t know, my basic artery function? Listen, sure the Big Ben Number 10 is a big burger. Sure it’s just 10 burgers piled up on top of each other between mounds of cheese and 25 rashers of bacon. Sure, it weighs 1.5kg. Sure, you might actually die trying to eat it. But it’s OK because they have thought of that.

Who’s thought of what? The George Pub and Grill in County Durham has thought of this burger actually killing someone. It comes with advice that customers eat it at their own risk, plus the owner has promised to pay £500 towards the headstone of anyone who drops dead during the challenge.

Seems like a nice guy. He’s got a big heart. And so will you once you’ve clogged your entire circulatory system with damp wads of half-chewed meat.

Has anyone actually attempted this? Apparently so. Competitive eater Kyle Gibson recently took on the Big Ben Number 10, and polished the whole thing off in just under 22 minutes. He claimed it was the best burger he’d ever tasted, which very possibly means he enjoys gorging to the point of nausea on food that went cold 15 minutes previously.

Do you get anything if you finish it? The owner of the George says you get “bragging rights”. Because your friends love nothing more than when you waddle up to them and boast about how you’ve become the unofficial poster boy for the sort of uncontrolled consumption that will almost certainly result in the end of humanity itself.

And how many calories did you say it had? 12,000.

Can you put that into perspective? Well, the NHS states that a healthy adult male should aim to eat about 2,500 calories a day. So this burger isthe equivalent of eating everything you should normally eat in a working week.

I still don’t get it. Can you put it in Guardian terms for me? Oh, fine, it’s like eating 10kg of quinoa.

(Guardian)

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November 6, 2019

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Dying for a better life: South Koreans fake their funerals for life lessons

A South Korean service is offering free funerals – but only to the living.

More than 25,000 people have participated in mass “living funeral” services at Hyowon Healing Center since it opened in 2012, hoping to improve their lives by simulating their deaths.

“Once you become conscious of death, and experience it, you undertake a new approach to life,” said 75-year-old Cho Jae-hee, who participated in a recent living funeral as part of a “dying well” program offered by her senior welfare center.

Dozens took part in the event, from teenagers to retirees, donning shrouds, taking funeral portraits, penning their last testaments, and lying in a closed coffin for around 10 minutes.

Funeral company Hyowon began offering the living funerals to help people appreciate their lives, and seek forgiveness and reconciliation with family and friends, said Jeong Yong-mun, who heads the healing center.

Jeong said he is heartened when people reconcile at a relative’s funeral, but is saddened they wait that long.

“We don’t have forever,” he said. “That’s why I think this experience is so important – we can apologize and reconcile sooner and live the rest of our lives happily.”

[Reuters]

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November 19, 2019

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‘The ducks have won’ – French court says they may keep on quacking

The ducks on a small French smallholding may carry on quacking, a French court ruled on Tuesday, rejecting a neighbour’s complaint that the birds’ racket was making their life a misery.

The court in the town of Dax ruled that the noise from the flock of around 60 ducks and geese kept by retired farmer Dominique Douthe in the foothills of the Pyrenees, southwestern France, was within acceptable limits, broadcaster France 3 said.

“The ducks have won,” Douthe told Reuters after the court decision. “I’m very happy because I didn’t want to slaughter my ducks.”

The complaint was brought by Douthe’s neighbour who moved from the city around a year ago into a property about 50 metres (yards) away from the enclosure in the Soustons district where Douthe keeps her flock.

The dispute is the latest in a series of court cases that have pitted the traditional way of life in rural France against modern values which, country-dwellers say, are creeping in from the city.

In a court ruling in September, a rooster named Maurice was allowed to continue his dawn crowing, despite complaints from neighbours who had also moved in from the city.

[Reuters]

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  • Fifteen children are confirmed (and three more suspected) dead from measles in Samoa as the illness epidemic continues within the country. (Radio New Zealand)

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December 4, 2018

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15 year old Greta Thunberg takes a stand for climate change at COP24

15 year old Greta Thunberg made headlines last month through her uncompromising – and uncomfortable! – presentation to the United Nations’ COP24 Climate Change conference in Poland.  For Greta, it’s as simple as this: climate change is a threat to our survival, and the world is not doing enough about it. Each Friday since August 2018, Greta has missed school to go on strike outside of the Swedish Parliament Building. She is demanding change, and has encouraged kids around the world to do the same until world leaders take serious action to reduce emissions and fulfil the mandates of the Paris Agreement. 

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December 12, 2019

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Election results 2019: Tories on course to win majority – exit poll

The Conservatives are set to win an overall majority of 86 in the general election, according to an exit poll for the BBC, ITV and Sky News.

The survey taken at UK polling stations suggests the Tories will get 368 MPs – 50 more than at the 2017 election – when all the results have been counted.

Labour would get 191, the Lib Dems 13, the Brexit Party none and the SNP 55.

The Green Party will still have one MP and Plaid Cymru will lose one seat for a total of three, the survey suggests.

The first general election results are due before midnight, with the final total expected to be known by Friday lunchtime.

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December 13, 2019

United Kingdom Election result

The Conservative Party has won a big majority after sweeping aside Labour in its traditional heartlands.

Boris Johnson – new British Prime Minister

What’s happened?

  • The Conservative Party has won a majority of at least 78, its biggest general election victory since 1987
  • With one constituency left to declare, the Conservatives have 364 seats, Labour 203, the SNP 48, the Liberal Democrats 11, the DUP 8, Sinn Fein 7, Plaid Cymru 4, the SDLP 2, the Green Party 1, the Alliance Party 1
  • St Ives, Cornwall, is yet to declare
  • The SNP has won more seats than in 2017
  • For the first time, nationalist parties in Northern Ireland have taken more seats than unionists
  • Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party failed to win a seat

The Brexit effect

The Conservatives increased their vote share in many areas that voted Leave in the 2016 EU referendum.

vote share changes in leave and remain areas

By contrast they lost votes in strong Remain constituencies such as those in Scotland and London. But Labour lost votes in both strong Remain and strong Leave areas.

Strong Leave and strong Remain constituencies are those where an estimated 60% or more of the electorate voted for that option at the EU referendum.

These estimates of constituency Brexit votes were modelled by Professor Chris Hanretty, as the 2016 referendum result was only recorded by local authority and not by Westminster constituency.

The Conservatives were clear winners in constituencies estimated to have voted majority Leave in 2016. They won almost three quarters of all these seats.

By contrast, there was no clear winner among Remain backing constituencies, with a crowded field of parties all winning substantial numbers of seats.

[BBC]

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  • China–United States trade war
    • Both countries announce an initial deal where new tariffs to be mutually imposed on December 15 would not be implemented. China says it “will buy more high quality of American agricultural products”, while the United States says it will halve the existing 15% tariffs. (The Guardian)

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December 16, 2019

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Driver ‘blows up’ car with ‘excessive’ use of air freshener

A driver caused an explosion in his car when he lit a cigarette after spraying air freshener.

He used “excessive” amounts of the aerosol scent before sparking up, according to firefighters.

Gas from the spray ignited, blew out the windscreen and windows and buckled the doors but the man escaped with only minor injuries.

Police said the incident in Halifax on Saturday “could’ve been worse” and warned people to follow safety advice.

The motorist was in stationary traffic in Fountain Street in the town at about 15:00 GMT on Saturday when the explosion happened.

It was so powerful it caused damage to windows at nearby businesses.

(BBC)

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December 29, 2019

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New Year Honours: Publication of addresses a ‘complete disaster’

The online publication of the addresses of more than 1,000 New Year Honours recipients was a “complete disaster”, a former cabinet minister has said.

Iain Duncan Smith, who was knighted, said ministers needed to ask “very serious questions” about how it had happened, while a former civil service chief called it a “serious failure”.

The Cabinet Office has apologised and says it is investigating.

Details of celebrities, senior police officers and politicians were released.

The list of 1,097 honours recipients – including high-profile names such as Sir Elton John, cricketer Ben Stokes, TV cook Nadiya Hussain and former director of public prosecutions Alison Saunders – was uploaded to an official website on Friday evening and removed on Saturday.

Most of the entries in the spreadsheet included full addresses – including house numbers and postcodes. The Cabinet Office said the document was visible for about an hour.

Elton John 2011 Shankbone 2 (cropped).JPG
Elton John
By David Shankbone – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79809947

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December 30, 2019

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Actress Sharon Stone blocked from dating app Bumble

Actress Sharon Stone says she was blocked from the dating app Bumble.

The online platform said there had been several reports of a fake profile, the 62-year-old posted on Twitter.

“Hey @bumble, is being me exclusionary?” the star of the 1992 film Basic Instinct asked the online app, which matches those looking for romance based on location.

Bumble say they have now unblocked Stone’s account so she can get “back to Bumbling”.

“Trust us, we *definitely* want you on the Hive,” said Bumble’s editorial director Clare O’Connor.

Bumble is a dating app that connects users looking for romance, friendship or anything in between.

Users can filter who they want to meet according to gender, age range and the distance they are willing to travel.

If two users “like” each other, they “match” and can start communicating.

Bumble is different to other dating apps as the woman must initiate contact by sending the first message.

The founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said following the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements she wanted to empower women in the dating realm by giving them the opportunity to make the first move.

Sharon Stone by Gage Skidmore 5.jpg
Sharon Stone

[BBC]

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December 31, 2019

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Editorial

So we made it. The world didn’t implode, explode or get hit by a devastating meteorite – we survived. But despite the opinion of the incumbent USA president most educated people agree that the world is in trouble due to the way humanity is treating it. We are like a bully who doesn’t realise the damage he is doing to a sensitive subject. It may have taken a 15 year-old from Sweden to finally wake up the rest of us.

Throughout the decade there have been a huge amount of major news stories with 119 covered here. This website, although far from complete (it proved a bigger task than expected), has covered many of the minor, but in some ways, no less interesting stories.

But one question has not been answered – the name the decade will forever be known as. The rather dull “the 2010’s” seems to be the phrase chosen by the daily press, but that is, of course, the title of this website so maybe that was the right answer all along. We still prefer “the Onesies”

This website will continue to expand with new dates added, old stories discovered and hopefully will become a useful place of research.

Finally a mention to four of the finest sources of information available (for free) today. BBC News, Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Internet Archive – Wayback Machine. We are lucky to have such amazing websites at our demand.

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